SIMIN aka AH LIU's BLOG

Friday, February 22, 2008

ALAS, THE LONG AWAITED KOREA TRIP .................

Day 1
After the super duper long 7 hr plane ride, we were all damn sian la. And the worse thing was, the tour guide told us that the first day shopping spree is POSTPONED cuz dongdaemon wasn't open on the first day of new yr.

Hellish man, cuz we were all looking forward to this shopping spree =(

But it wasn't all that bad cuz we had GINDENG CHICKEN for dinner. WHOOPEE !! Look at the pic below, it's sizzling, aromatic and FANTASTIC. Haha, they actually stuffed glutinous rice into the chicken so after u finished the chicken and noodles, e remains will be kinda like porridge and it's BLOODY deeeeee-licious !!

GINSENG CHICKEN !!

Yup, as shown by the pic, we went to LOTTE world instead. It's kinda like an amusement park with both indoor and outdoor rides. The worse thing was, we cant go outdoor cuz it's extremely cold out there, i tink it was -3 degrees. Haha. So we ended up taking the NOT thrilling indoor rides, one of which is the merri-go-round as shown below.

WHOOOPEE, i know it's kiddy but this is the first time i sat on this kinda tingy. Haha, my mum took the ride too ! So spontaneous yeah?

First day ended on a very sian note cuz we were all tired out by the plane ride and LOTTE world was no fun when u only get to take te indoor rides =(

AND OH MI GOSH, there's soooooo many shuai ge la. (all with their girlfriends =( . Haha. And the ladies there had freaking good complexion and figure, even the MUMS)

Day 2

I dunno whr the hell is this place.

Anyway, the babe on the right is my cousin(sorry dudes, she's attached so dun ask for her no. ya? haha)

Lunch was this fired chicken/pork?? on a hotplate with loads of cabbage. Their cabbage is (ohmigosh) fantastically sweet and fresh man. Not like those in Singapore that looked like it has underwent a good deal of wilting.

See, u stir fry dem.

Happy faces when it's good food =)

As u can see above, we went to Nami Island. Winter Sonata was filmed here. The place is pretty la, but somehow, it's soooooo damn cold, we couldnt really enjoy ourselves.

Great place for the cam-whores.

Ice cream during winter is simply "whoohoo" haha. No sun to rush u to eat faster and u can basically take ur own sweet time la. Haha,

Oh yeah, and around this place, they've this barbeque-like pit with coals burning in it. Initially we thought it was for barbeque but later realised that u use tt to warm ur hands. Haha

Nice scenery yeah? Imagine, Bae-young-jun was once here at this exact place. LOL

This is the supposedly world reknown statue of the actors of winter sonata. I'm not quite if it's world reknown, i havent even heard of this before.

Leave this for 20 mins in Singapore and it's gonna be reduced to water.

DINNER !! We had dinner at this setting where dey call "ta ta me" sth like that? Haha. Some of the guys were so uncomfortable sitting down that they ended up squatting instead. Stiff legs. Lol.

Tell u what, the soup here is so damn nice that i forgo my rice in exchange for it. Really nice man.

Look at the windows, if u think it's condensation, think again. It's ice.

Day 3

We healthy people went to scale a mountain !! But dunno why, this buddha statue poped out of nowhere. Haha.

We were actually so sad that it wasnt snowing down at seoul but guess what, it started snowing rather heavily when we reached the mountains !! Haha. The snow is soooooo white and pretty, we actually looked like ingredients in a bowl of ice kacang when we sat there. Lol.

While scaling the mountains. Erm, we dun actually scale the mountain with ropes etc, but rather, using the steps. But honestly ar, i tink it's a super tough activity cuz the terrains is very slippery. And when u reached the top of the mountain, the sensation is horrid. Cuz the wind starts blowing, snow bits come flying and when it hits ur face, i dunno man, i tink i rather be slapped than hit by these snow bits.

WAHAHA. I LOVE THE SNOW.

Gosh, this place makes mount faber look like a dwarf and snow city like a fridge.

LUNCH !! This is where we ate our dinner yesterday. But this time round we have the rice with red sweet chilli and egg and vege etc, dunno wat it's called. And we even had the soup to go along ! Help, i'm in paradise. Haha.

Not only is it cold, the wind is strong too man.

That's the restaurant's name.

After lunch, we went to the hotel for hot spring. So, not much pics here.

Ohhhh man, the hot spring........ OHH MAN, everyone is stripped NAKED there la. I cant believe my sight man, loads of naked women bodies around. Haha. Okay, that's not the point.

Hmm, my experience of the hot spring..... i don't like it.

I mean, first it's WAY too hot that if u jump in immediately, u're gonna feel like a burnt sotong. (okay, i dunno how a burnt sotong feels) But the water is SCALDING hot la.

And after ten mins or so, u'll have to get out of the hot tub and jump into the cold one.

Ask mi how tt feels.

Tell u what (minus the embarrassment of walking to the cold tub) it still felt horrid. It's like needles poking through your skin and it's bloody pain ! Haha. My mum was saying "oh, that's good that's good !" Lol, at that point, i cant see the benefits of killing my cells like tt. I tink my cells are denatured from all that extreme change in Kelvins.

OHH let me introduce u to our beds !! It also called "ta ta me" !! Haha, guess wat, the floor is insulated by pipes. So it's really super warm and not uncomfortable at all !!

Refreshed from all the hot spring's "benefits". We're not using the excess energy to gamble ok. This is a mind bogging, intelligence testing card game.

Now, it's DINNER TIME ! This is the hotel lobby and as u can see, there's still a Christmas tree there. Apparently, the koreans have an ultra long Christmas? Or mayb Christmas mood ends when the snow melts? I dunno. Haha

SEAFOOD DINNER TONIGHT ! It looks good?? It's crap. Not nice at all. That's cuz we didnt order the special set, some of us ordered the special set and the pics are shown below.

I mean we're non-seafood lovers so why waste the money right? Damn, my cousin labelled us as second class. Basket.

Anyway, my mum ordered and the special set looks like this. U cant tell from the photos but the prawns are ALIVE. They're supposed to bite the prawns from the neck(do prawns have necks??) and kill them this way. yeah, as in eat the whole prawn except the head.

FINALE OF THE MEAL ! The stall keeper came in with this mini octopus held using a chopstick.

So stall keeper will come (octopus in one hand, scissors in the other) and grab hold of one of the tantacles, ask the customer to bite on to it and "snips" off it comes and u eat it raw. MIND YOU, the octopus is ALIVE while all this happens.

According to my mum, she tantacles actually applied a suction force on ur mouth. GROSS la.

IS the act of cruelty to marine creatures a responsibility of the SPCA?? I tink the koreans will be the first to be put behind bars. ( or mayb the japs?) But it's a gd experience, really.

*despite the shrieks from the ladies and the acting cool on the part of the man, the whole scene is really lively and COMICAL"

Haha, poor prawns, waiting to be sent to the gallows. =(

And i forgot to mention, the restaurant is located by the sea, smack right in front of the 38th parallel. I dun tink i can show u ppl the photo cuz it's quite a distance away from land and it's alright dark so u cant see it.

The guide told us that in the past, if you set off firecrackers in this place after 9pm, North Korea will response to it by sending missiles over. Haha, i find it damn funny leh. I mean, the paranoia.

Day 4

LUNCH, this lunch is to give us enough energy for SKI ING later !!! But guess wat, that pot of soup, it's practically made of salt. Inedible. So we ended up eating seaweed with rice.

YEAH ! All geared up and ready to go ! Dun we all look like pros??

Anyway, at the shop where we rent the ski outfit, there's this damn cute guy *swoons*

writtern @9:18 PM